Toplantı başlamadan önce bu raporun çıktısını almalıyız.

Başlamadan önce means before starting or, in this sentence, before it starts.

It is built like this:

• başla- = start
• -madan / -meden = before doing / without doing
• önce = before

So:

• başlamadan önce = before starting / before it starts

This is a very common Turkish structure. Even though -ma- often appears in negatives, in -madan önce the whole pattern simply means before X happens.

So:

• Toplantı başlamadan önce = before the meeting starts

Because -madan önce takes a more clause-like structure, where the subject can stay in the basic form:

• toplantı = the meeting
• başlamadan önce = before starting / before it starts

So Toplantı başlamadan önce is a natural way to say before the meeting starts.

If you use a more noun-like structure, then you can get something like:

• toplantının başlamasından önce

That also means before the meeting starts, but it is built differently and sounds more formal/heavier.

So for learners, the key point is:

• Toplantı başlamadan önce = very normal and natural
• the subject toplantı stays unmarked here

It means the printout of this report.

Here is the breakdown:

• bu rapor = this report
• bu raporun = of this report
• çıktı = printout
• çıktısı = its printout
• çıktısını = its printout (as a definite direct object)

So:

• bu raporun çıktısını = the printout of this report

This is a possessive construction in Turkish:

• raporun = possessor
• çıktısı = possessed noun

Then Turkish adds the direct-object ending because it is the thing being taken/obtained in the sentence.

The -un is the genitive ending, which often corresponds to English of or possession.

• rapor = report
• raporun = of the report / the report’s

Since the sentence is talking about the printout of this report, Turkish marks report as the possessor:

• bu raporun çıktısı = this report’s printout / the printout of this report

So -un shows that the printout belongs to, or is associated with, the report.

Because several grammar pieces are stacked together.

• çıktı = printout
• çıktı-sı = its printout
• çıktı-sı-nı = its printout (specific direct object)

Why -sı? Because in a possessive construction, Turkish marks the possessed noun:

• raporun çıktısı = the report’s printout

Why -nı? Because this noun phrase is the direct object of the verb almalıyız. It is also definite/specific, so Turkish uses the accusative ending.

The n is a buffer consonant used after the 3rd-person possessive ending.

So:

• çıktısı = its printout
• çıktısını almak = to take/get its printout

Literally, yes, it looks like to take/get its printout, but in natural English it usually means:

• to get a printout
• to print out
• to take a printout

In Turkish, çıktı almak is a very common expression for producing or obtaining a printed copy.

So in this sentence:

• bu raporun çıktısını almalıyız

means something like:

• We should get a printout of this report
• We should print out this report

depending on context.

Almalıyız is formed from:

• al- = take / get
• -malı / -meli = should / must / need to
• -yız = we are / we

So:

• almalıyız = we should take/get
• in context: we should get/print

Important: the ending here is -malı, the necessity suffix. It is not the negative suffix -ma by itself.

So the structure is:

• al-malı-yız = we should get

Because Turkish often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already shows the subject.

Here:

• -yız in almalıyız tells you the subject is we

So biz is not necessary.

You could say:

• Biz bu raporun çıktısını almalıyız

but that would usually add emphasis, like we should do it.

Without biz, the sentence sounds natural and normal.

Because Turkish normally puts the main verb at the end.

The sentence order is:

• Toplantı başlamadan önce = before the meeting starts
• bu raporun çıktısını = the printout of this report
• almalıyız = we should get

So Turkish commonly goes:

• time expression + object + verb

A very literal word order would be:

• Before the meeting starts, this report’s printout we-should-get.

That final-verb pattern is one of the biggest differences from English.

Yes, you could, and it would mean:

• We should get a printout of this report before the meeting.

That version is slightly less specific.

Compare:

• Toplantıdan önce = before the meeting
• Toplantı başlamadan önce = before the meeting starts

So the original sentence focuses specifically on the meeting not having started yet, while toplantıdan önce is a bit shorter and more general.

Bu means this.

So:

• rapor = report
• bu rapor = this report
• bu raporun = of this report

It works just like an English demonstrative adjective:

• this report
• the printout of this report

So bu tells us which report we are talking about: a specific one, this one.

In Turkish, a specific/definite direct object usually takes the accusative ending.

Here, the object is very specific:

• bu raporun çıktısını = the printout of this report

That is why the object is marked.

If you removed the accusative in many contexts, the phrase could sound less definite or less complete. In this sentence, with such a specific possessed noun phrase, the marked form çıktısını is the natural choice.

So learners should remember:

• specific direct object → often accusative
• here: çıktısını is the expected form